{"nrhp_refnum":"80002676","name":"Chanin Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"122 E. 42nd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.75128506300007,"lon":-73.97506216199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 56-story Art Deco office skyscraper at 122 East 42nd Street, at Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, built in 1927-29 for the Chanin Construction Company to designs by Sloan & Robertson.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as an impressive Art Deco skyscraper whose tower massing follows the 1916 zoning rules. It was the first major skyscraper built near Grand Central Terminal, anticipating a shift in the city's business district. Its ornament, by sculptor Rene Chambellan with Jacques Delamarre, was praised on completion in 1929.","narrative":"Rising 56 stories at Lexington Avenue and East 42nd Street in Manhattan, this office tower was built in 1927-29 as headquarters for the Chanin Construction Company. Sloan & Robertson designed it as a major Art Deco skyscraper, with a pyramidal base of setbacks and a tower shaped by the 1916 zoning rules. Sculptor Rene Chambellan and Jacques Delamarre of the Chanin firm created the ornament, including a bronze frieze on the story of evolution, a terra-cotta fourth story of stylized plants, and a lobby themed on the City of Opportunity. Construction took one year, and the building opened in January 1929. It was the first major skyscraper in the Grand Central area, anticipating a shift in the city's business district, and critics praised it as a splendid contribution to twentieth-century architecture. The tower is still used as an office building and remains a visual landmark of the Grand Central area.","period_of_significance":"1927-29","architect_builder":"Sloan & Robertson; built by Chanin Construction Company; sculptural ornament by Rene Chambellan with Jacques Delamarre","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rated excellent and altered; still functions as an office building and headquarters of the Chanin organization, with some original storefront detail obscured and the entrance canopies altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.473963-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002676.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002676/54fb55c849-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002676/54fb55c849-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chanin_Building,_side_up.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chanin_Building,_side_up.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319364","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanin_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2956104"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/chanin-building-80002676/"}